2 August 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Olive harvest in the Jordan Valley
Reuters reports thats Israeli authorities have given Palestinian farmers living in Jericho in the West Bank an order to uproot palm trees they have grown and leave the agricultural lands within 45 days. The orders came in the form of letters sent to the farmers in what is known as “Area C” and gave the farmers a 7 October 2012 deadline to vacate their land.
Shawkat Housheyeh, a farmer who received an official warning letter to uproot his palm trees told Reuters news agency that the measure threatened the livelihood of thousands of farm workers in the Jericho area. He called on the Palestinian Authority to fight the Israeli threat to Palestinians working on farms in the 3,000 dunams (about 741 acres) of Dier Hijlah and al-Zour.
Liza Ennab is the media coordinator for the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
31 September 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
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Firas Nahar Jama, 15, was arrested after Israeli soldiers invaded the village of Kufr Qaddoum during the weekly demonstration.
Mahmood Nasir Batahan (10) was taken to the hospital after being hit by a tear-gas canister. Two others were treated on the scene after inhaling large amounts of tear-gas.
The purpose of the weekly demonstration in Kufr Qaddoum is to protest the closure of the main road that connects the village with the city of Nablus. The road, which passes alongside the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of Kedumim was closed for Palestinian access and is only open to illegal Israeli settlers. As a result, the journey to the nearest city has increased from 15 minutes to 40 minutes.
Kufr Qaddoum has also lost 4,000 durums of land to the 5 illegal Israeli settlements that surrounds the village. Farmers seeking to reach their lands face threats, attacks, and arrests. Some of the Palestinian-owned agricultural land has been declared as ‘closed military zones’, and Israeli settlers regularly sets fire to them.
31 August 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West bank
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Three Palestinians were injured and 5 arrested today during Nabi Saleh’s weekly demonstration. Israeli military set up road blocks surrounding the village early this morning in order to prevent people and journalists from participating.
At 4.30 p.m., Malek Tamini was shot with a live bullet which went through his hand and the side of his body. He has undergone surgery for his injuries. One Palestinian suffered an open wound after being shot with a tear gas canister during protests. Soldiers were firing tears gas canisters directly in to the crowd with the intent of causing serious injury and then prevented the ambulance from entering the village for one hour . One local resident received stitches in Ramallah hospital after suffering a head wound from a rubber-coated steel bullet.
Five Palestinians protestors including Mohammad Khatib and Bilal Tamimi of the popular committees, a student journalist, and two young women activists were arrested in the morning while walking towards the village spring which was annexed by the nearby illegal Israeli settlement, Halamish. All have has since been released.
Nabi Saleh is a small village of approximately 550 people, twenty kilometres north west of Ramallah in the West Bank of the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The Israeli colony of Halamish (also known as Neveh Tzuf) was established on lands belonging to the villages of An Nabi Saleh and Deir Nidham in 1976. In response to the illegal colony being established on their land, the residents of An Nabi Saleh and Deir Nidham began holding demonstrations in opposition to the theft of their land and the establishment of the colony (whose establishment violates international law). The residents of An Nabi Saleh and Deir Nidham lodged a court case against the colony in Israel’s high court, but were unable to stop the construction the illegal settlement.
Since its establishment in 1977, Halamish colony has continued to expand and steal more Palestinian land. In 2008, the residents of An Nabi Saleh challenged the building of a fence by the colony on private Palestinian land, which prevented Palestinians from accessing their land. The Israeli courts ruled that the fence was to be dismantled Despite the Israeli court ruling, the colony continued to illegally annex more Palestinian land. In the summer of 2008, Israeli settlers from Halamish seized control of a number springs, all of which were located on private Palestinian land belonging to residents of An Nabi Saleh.
In December 2009, the village began weekly non-violent demonstrations in opposition to the illegal Israeli colony of Halamish annexing of the fresh water springs and stealing of more of the village’s land. Since An Nabi Saleh began its demonstrations, the Israeli military has brutally sought to repress the non-violent protests, arresting more than 13% of the village, including children. In total, as of 31 March 2011, 64 village residents have been arrested. All but 3 were tried for participating in the non-violent demonstrations. Of those imprisoned, 29 have been minors under the age of 18 years and 4 have been women.
On the morning of August 28, around 30 settlers armed with guns and sticks descended upon a Palestinian home located in Khan al-Liban, and attacked the Daraghmah family. The mother, Taghrid, and the two youngest sons, Mu’min, 13, and Nour al-Deen, 9, were injured during the attacks which lasted at least one hour until soldiers and police arrived. Mu’min and Nour were taken by ambulance to the hospital. The father of the family, Khalid, 45, and his second eldest son, Jalaal, 16, were arrested and are still being held in police custody.
At around 8:30 a.m. settlers from Ma’ale Levona arrived at the home of the Daraghmah family. The father, Khalid, two of his sons, Mu’min and Jalaal, and his wife, Taghrid, were sitting in the entry way. The youngest son, Nour, was asleep inside the main room. According to Mu’min, Taghrid went inside the main room, and was followed by 10 settlers. The settlers began attacking Taghrid, Khalid, and Nour inside the room.
“Nour was thrown at the wall by one of the big settlers, and they were laughing” Mu’min recounts.
Nour al-Deen being treated in the ambulance after the attacks. (Photo courtesy of Wafa – International Communities Against Israel).
After they attacked Nour, one of the men began beating Taghrid.
“The settler hit me on the shoulder with a stick, then grabbed me by the collar, and after that ripped my jacket and shirt. Then he began hitting me on the chest, my legs, and finally my hip.” Says Taghrid, who has just returned from Nablus after filing a police report and retreiving the medical reports about her two injured sons.
Taghrid Daraghmah shows how her clothes were torn during the attack. (Photo courtesy of Wafa – International Communities Against Israel).
According to Mu’min says that as the violence escalated, Jalaal and Khalid tried to defend the rest of their family by forcing the settlers outside the bedroom into the entry way. Then the settlers then began beating him, his father, and Jalaal with sticks as they attempted to push them away from the bedroom. Khalid picked up two stones and the settlers began firing into the air, and throwing stones at him.
Mu’min went with Nour and his mother to the roof of the home to escape the continuing attacks. As Khalid and Jalaal were being attacked in the house, settlers began destroying the bedroom, and threw the family’s clothes into the spring next to the house, while Mu’min filmed with his phone.
“After we had been on the roof for awhile, my father and Jalaal ran away from the house, so that the settlers would follow them. When they were far enough away I put my mother and Nour in the bedroom and locked them in so that they would be safe. Then the settlers began firing into the air and throwing stones at the windows to the bedroom.” Mu’min says.
The attacks continued for some time, with Mu’min, Jalaal, and Khalid being beaten. Taghrid says she heard laughing and yelling in Arabic that they planned to cut down all the trees on the land and put Jalaal in prison. During the attacks Khalid’s car was destroyed, with all the windows being smashed, one of the doors broken and the electrical wires ripped out.
Khalid’s car sits with all of the windows smashed after the attack. For more pictures of the aftermath please click here.
In a video, posted on Ynet news, viewers can see the Daraghmah family surrounded by settlers carrying sticks. Jalaal swings what appears to a pick at a settler who tries to enter the bedroom of the home. The Daraghmah family car is also present in the video, without any damage, before it was destroyed. The headline of the Ynet story reads “Settler attacked with axe”.
According to Taghrid, around an hour after the settlers, 5 Israeli soldiers arrived, and immediately arrested Jalaal after settlers accused him of hitting them. Khalid was detained in one of the rooms by the police. An ambulance arrived to take Mu’min and Nour to the hospital, and Khalid was taken by Police to Sha’ar Binyamin after being accused of interfering with Police work. No settler were arrested.
Khalid Daraghmah being arrested by Israeli Police. (Photo courtesy of EAPPI).
In 2002 the Israeli High Court ruled that the land in Khan belongs to their family, but settlers claim it is a public spring. For the past four years, Khalid al-Sanih Daraghmah and his family have faced regular attacks by Israeli settlers at their home in Khan, 2 kilometers south of the West Bank village al-Luban. When Khalid bought the two homes on the road to the illegal Ma’ale Levona settlement 5 years ago, he imagined restoring them and planting the 20 dunums of land that they sit on.
More information on the constant settler attacks against the Darahmah family can be found here, here, and here.
Marshall Pinkerton is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
25 August 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
On Thursday August 23, Mumen Mahmoud Raja, 18, was arrested at his home by Israeli occupation forces at 2:30 a.m.
Around 2 a.m., some 60 Israeli forces invaded the Palestinian village of Burin, located south-west of Nablus. They arrived in 6 military jeeps, a truck, and 16 individuals by foot from the illegal colony of Givat Arosha, located atop a hill near the village, Mumen’s father estimates. 20 soldiers entered Mumen’s house, waking his family, including his 8 year old brother.
“We thought they wanted to arrest our other son, Montser, 19, who was arrested three months ago for 10 days. But then the soldiers began to demand Mumen, and took him away,” Mumens father recounts.
Mumen Mahmoud Raja
This family, like most families in Burin, endures the arrests of their children without being given a reason for their detention. At 3 a.m., the soldiers left the house after checking the identity of the remaining family members.
“It is the first arrest now that Ramadan is over, and we believe there will be more in the coming weeks,” says Ghassan Najjar, resident of Burin.
Since January 2012, Israeli forces have arrested 35 young men in Burin in night raids. Currently 16 of them are still imprisoned, aged between 15 and 32 years. Three of the current prisoners are minors; Walid Eid, 16, Eid Maomen, 16, and Qais Omran, 17.
Burin has been subject to many arrests on a daily basis for the past several years. The village is surrounded from all directions by three illegal Israeli settlements: Yitzhar, Bracha, and Givat Arosha. The Israeli military often patrols through the village at night raiding homes, and arresting members of Palestinian families without indicating a reason. The harassment and arrest of Burin’s youth, particularly those with a connection to the youth community centre in the village, is common.
Alma Reventos is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
